Lionel Messi had the ball, Neymar made the run, the pass was on… but it never came. Messi looked elsewhere.
To most, it was just one moment in 90 minutes of football. But in hindsight, it feels almost symbolic the quiet spark before a storm that would shake the football world.
Five days later, Neymar shocked everyone. Paris Saint-Germain paid an earth-shattering €222 million, smashing the world transfer record, and Barcelona’s golden trio MSN was no more.
Messi had always believed Neymar had everything to be his successor at the Camp Nou the flair of a street baller, the killer instinct of a striker, and the charisma to become the face of Barça’s future. But fate had other plans.
What followed was a chain reaction that changed European football forever.
From partner in magic to opponent in battle…
From the heir to the throne to a rival in Champions League wars…
It all shifted in less than a week.
